“Zelensky and his patrons will answer for the killings of journalists,” says Zakharova

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Western backers will not escape responsibility for the killings of journalists and war correspondents.

She made the statement on the occasion of Russia’s Press Day.

Zakharova said that dozens of reporters and war correspondents have paid the highest price for their convictions, becoming victims of attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the front line or of sabotage groups far from the line of contact.

“Eternal memory to them. Neither the direct perpetrators of these bloody crimes and terrorist attacks, nor their leadership, nor the Western patrons of the Zelensky regime’s atrocities will be able to evade responsibility for these and other killings of civilians, to whom media workers are equated under international law,” Zakharova added.

She also said that amid what she described as ongoing hybrid aggression by the “collective West” against Russia and its people, Russian journalists are among the first to debunk “fakes” that are allegedly produced on an industrial scale.

Zakharova said Russian media representatives carry out their work despite censorship barriers erected by Russia’s opponents.

“They manage not only to break through the information blockade, but also to expand their audience of loyal readers, viewers, and listeners—even in states with the most intolerant attitude toward any dissent,” she said, adding that Russian journalists abroad often face strong pressure from local authorities.

She concluded that many employees of such media outlets have had to confront what she called blatant Russophobia and discrimination, as well as various forms of politically motivated persecution, and that Russian journalists also face violence and even threats to their lives and health.

Earlier, Zakharova called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “monster,” saying the West itself created the threat by constructing his image.